The Sisters Dawnlighter
by William Logan
Summary: A tale of two Quel'Dorei sisters, Shendaris and Selessa, and their struggle to maintain their bond during and after the horrors inflicted on their people in the Third War. Contains characters from my fics Of Flames and Jolly Rogers and True Demons
1. Chapter 1 The Suffering of the Forests

Disclaimer: World of WarCraft and all related names and trademarks are the property of Blizzard, who makes lots and lots of money off of them.

Shendaris and Selessa are my original characters from the Sentinels server on WoW. Selessa is also featured in the first few chapters on my other story "Of Flames and Jolly Rogers"

Please enjoy - R&R!

**The Sisters Dawnlighter**

**By William Logan**

**Chapter 1: The Suffering of the Forests of Quel'Thelas**

To untrained ears, the small patch of forest in which Shendaris Dawnlighter was crouching in a high tree branch was eerily silent. Few birds chirped, no insects were emitting mating sounds, even the wind was still. To trained ears, such as that of the elven ranger, the forest itself was screaming in agony. She could hear the march of the oncoming army of the Undead Scourge, led by the traitorous Prince Arthas, loyal servant of the Lich King. The abominations had marched through the land, ripping up trees and slaughtering animals and elves alike, destroying life without hesitation, and, in the ones that still had some semblence of a mind, with horrifying glee. Shendaris had seen many of her friends cut down, and now here, mere miles from the capitol city of Silvermoon, she and a few others of the rangers, led by the valiant Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner, were making a last stand, trying to give the few runners they had sent out enough time to reach the city to warn them of the army approaching their gates.

The elf tucked her platinum blonde hair back behind her pointed ear and listened harder, now hearing the rumble of the terrible meat wagons and the irregular march of the undead legions. She turned to the nearby tree in which she saw General Windrunner crouched similarly in her tree, her jaw set and her blue eyes glowing intensely as she awaited the inevitable. The trees around them began to quake, some crashing to the ground as the army of the dead finally came into visual range.

"Send them back to the grave, my sisters! We are Silvermoon's last hope, let not one escape!" Sylvanas cried, and the sky was suddenly black from the rain of arrows the elves unleashed on the undead army. When the arrows settled into their targets, Shendaris looked with a satisfied smile to see that many of the corpses were laying still on the ground now, many arrows stuck through them. However, it took only mere moments for the majority of the bodies to begin to stir and stand again, ready to fight. A chill went down Shendaris's back as she saw the silver-haired man riding a skeletal horse stride forward, enormous rune-blade in hand, an evil glow coming from the carvings in it.

"Open fire," he stated, quite simply, and the meat wagons complied, as though with minds of their own. Corpses flew threw the air, hitting the trees with unnatural force. Shendaris could see General Windrunner leap from her tree as it fell, glaring defiantly up at Arthas, drawing her bow back and letting it loose. The arrow struck the Death Knight squarely in the chest, but simply stuck in his armor as Arthas grinned haughtily, leaping off his horse and charging forward, running Sylvanas through on his runeblade. Shendaris's heart leapt into her throat and she drew back her bow, about to let loose at Arthas before she felt the tree she was in suddenly shake. A loud snap sounded below her and the tree split in half, toppling to the ground, hearing yet another loud crack, this time of her leg as she landed hard. She looked up to see Sylvanas, laying on the ground before Arthas, his runeblade no longer penetrating her body.

"Finish me..." the Ranger-General gasped, "I... deserve... a clean death."

"No," Arthas said, his eyes cold, "you were a thorn in my side too long for me to allow you to rest peacefully." He stretched out his hand and muttered words that were foreign to Shendaris, who watched in horror as Sylvanas's body convulsed on the ground, an ethereal blue cloud rushing forth out of her mouth and taking a form, hovering above her body.

"Curse you, Arthas," a shrill voice that made Shendaris shiver to the bone screamed from the spirit. The voice was barely recognizable, but it was, indeed, that of her former commander. Shendaris let out a cry, struggling to get a decent shot off, despite her awkward position on the ground. Her arrow flew towards Arthas, ricocheting off one of his massive pauldrons. The Death Knight turned and set his eyes upon her, smiling.

"Well, it looks like we have another addition to our army waiting to be created... wonderful. Welcome, my dear elf... to living under the will of the Lich King." He stretched forth his hand and began uttering the same words again, as Shendaris struggled to get away. She could feel something pull the life out of her, the agony was overwhelming, much greater than any physical pain she had ever felt. Every negative emotion she had ever had become tangible, and was all she could feel. Pain, suffering, grief: these were all that she knew. Although now lacking vocal chords, she let loose a scream that penetrated her very being. To her great horror she realized that these were her birth cries in her new life as a banshee.


	2. Chapter 2 The Fall of Silvermoon

**Chapter 2: The Fall of Silvermoon**

Selessa Dawnlighter appeared just inside the gates of Silvermoon City just before nightfall, brushing some dust off her dark purple cloak. She pulled back her hood and glanced around, breathing in the air deeply. It had been a while since she'd made it away from Dalaran to her home, and it was good to return. It was unfortunate that it was under such dire circumstances. Just three weeks ago, she had left her apprentice, a female girl named Arrien, in the care of the Kul Tiras fleet commander Duke Falrevere after the girl's village had been destroyed in the onslaught of a group of paladins under the command of Prince Arthas, attempting to wipe out the Plague that spread throughout the lands. She hoped Arrien was safe and that she hadn't placed her in even further danger. However, Selessa could not worry about that now. Her main concern was finding out how her sister, a member of the Farstriders serving under Sylvanas Windrunner, was faring. She approached one of the blue-clad city guardsman by the gate to ask.

"Any word from the Farstriders?"

"No, Lady Mage," the guard said, his glowing blues eyes showing the faintest signs of concern, "we've been waiting these past several days from any word from Lady Sylvanas, but still not one messenger has arrived," the guard lowered his voice confidentially, frowning, "I suspect the worst, given what they're up against." Selessa closed her eyes and sighed deeply, walking a few yards away and leaning up against a white marble building, watching people come and go through the gates, praying she'd see her sister somewhere in the crowd, returning home triumphant. A few merchants passed by, peddling their wares from magically driven carts, but were gone by the time the sun had fully set in the sky. Selessa once again looked up towards the gate, but this time, she saw someone dressed in the dark green of the Farstriders rushing towards the gates, his long blonde hair flowing back in the wind, his face pale as a ghost. The mage and the two guards rushed forward, managing to reach the man just as he collapsed to his knees, gasping.

"Sent... by... Lady Sylvanas," he gasped, his blue eyes lacking the natural glow of most of his people, out of sheer exhaustion. His hands caught him from fully collapsing face-first on the ground. With a few quick motions, Selessa conjured a flask of water and handed it to the man, who drank greedily.

"What word, man," the guard demanded anxiously, the fear evident in his voice, "what word from the front?"

"The Undead have broken through the Elf Gate... the forests are lost, the outlying cities brutally destroyed," the ranger looked up at them, his eyes wide with terror, "I've never seen such callous destruction in my life... the orcs and trolls were gentle compared to this savagery!"

"What of Shendaris Dawnlighter? Do you know her? Is she safe?" Selessa demanded, grasping the man by the shoulder, as if that would force a positive answer out of him.

"She is with General Sylvanas," the man sighed, "they... those troops stayed behind to give me a chance to deliver the message. There's no way any of them survived." Selessa felt her heart shatter. The words rang completely true - there was absolutely no way her younger sister could have survived the onslaught these creatures would bring, no matter how resourceful she was, no matter how clever, there was no way to stop these Undead.

Choking back tears, Selessa turned to the guard, "Alert your captain... we must ready the city for an attack."

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In less than an hour, the gates to the city were sealed shut, large numbers of troops posted near each of them, ready to take on their attackers. Scores of mages and priests were also there, prepared with their best spells to devastate the enemy. Selessa walked the roads, observing the eerie quiet of the bazaar, which, even at this late hour, was usually at least mildly abuzz with activity. She studied the curving blue marble spires, trimmed with gold, and sighed, feeling that this would be the last she'd see of the city in this beautiful, serene state. She slowly approached the center of the city and smiled, looking in awe at the Sunwell. This was the source of the Quel'Dorei's power, a font of pure arcane energy. She moved towards the sparkling waters, lightly dipping her fingers in it and felt a shiver go through her very being as the arcane energies swirled about her, embracing her like a lover. The mage felt as though she could do no wrong as long as she had these powers at her disposal. All around her, she saw archmages preparing complex spells to guard the Sunwell, gigantic stone golems sprung to life, ready to defend against the Undead. Selessa departed from this place with a sad sigh, hoping that at least the Sunwell would remain untainted.

She made her way back to the gates to see hundreds of troops stationed there, ready to fight to the last man to defend their homes, their families. The proud elves stood, their gold and blue armor gleaming in the light of the crescent moon and the soft glow of the arcane-powered lamps around them. Nearby, Selessa noticed with a dark grimace, was a small contingent of paladins sent from the troops of Lordaeron to aide them in battling the abominations that were nearly at their doorstep. The paladins seemed to find the extensive use of arcane by the Quel'Dorei quite distasteful, finding it to be far too tainted by the chaos that spawned it. Whispers also went around the elven troops about the paladins, how it had been Arthas, one of the proudest paladins of the Silver Hand, who had murdered his own father in Lordaeron and razed his kingdom to the ground. A few of the most skeptical elves even wondered if these paladins planned to betray them as their prince had. The night dragged on, conversations dying down, the tension continuing to mount heavier and heavier, until, finally, it broke and was replaced by sheer horror.

An unearthly cry was heard in the sky, and three gray, winged forms swooped down from the sky, bearing sacks which they dropped on the unsuspecting elves. The arcane towers glowed with power and blasted these creatures to pieces, showering the Quel'Dorei defenders with black and gray gore. The sacks dropped to the streets and fell open, letting several dozen elven heads roll out onto the ground. Shouts of horror and rage sounded from the troops, and Selessa could hear the rumble of the approaching Undead army. There were no battle cries from the enemy, unseen from the backlines Selessa found herself on, behind the gate, no words of taunting... simply the grinding sound of horrific machines and the irregular footsteps of the raised dead. The battle outside the gates began, raging loudly, and the defenders behind the gates could do nothing but wait. Elven Dragonhawk riders swooped through the sky, impaling the gray flying beasts, now revealed in the moonlight to be gargoyles, on their lances. It took little time before the battering of assault weapons began to work on the gate. Selessa heard it begin to splinter, and, finally, collapsed against the weight of siege weapons, sending the defenders who had been attempting to re-inforce it flying. Hordes of zombies, ghouls, and horrific ghosts surged forward, annihilating line after line of elves. To the back of these forces were necromancers, moving along quietly in their dark robes and ceremonial headgear comprised of the large skulls of dead animals, casting spells to raise the bodies of the fallen Quel'Dorei to aide them in their fight against their former comrades.

The Quel'Dorei mages, including Selessa, made a united effort, bringing forth a large storm of giant shards of ice falling from the sky, impaling many of the Undead so they were completely useless and unable to move. Selessa smiled in satisfaction as the ice pierced two of the necromancers, impaling them and holding them fast to the ground. From the smoke and mist generated by the battle, four enormous creatures lunged forth unsteadily, causing shrieks of horror as they swung their bloodied weapons with multiple arms. These abominations appeared to be made by stitching together as many parts of different creatures as was possible, and were easily the most horrific "living" things in the army. Several of the beasts actually had large, gaping wounds, out of which bloody entrails spilled and dangled about, swaying with each giant stroke of the beasts' cleavers and hooks. The battle raging around her, drawing closer, Selessa began to summon blasts of arcane energy, causing ghouls to simply explode into small bits of flesh and gore. Another mage beside her cast a spell and all the flesh of a nearby zombie appeared to liquefy and slough off, though this didn't seem to slow the skeleton underneath, which continued to lunge forward in attack. Then Selessa saw the most horrific part of the Undead Scourge's army: the Meat Wagons. Corpses were being flung to the left and right, propelled by magic so that they were strong enough to cause cracks in the foundations of the buildings they struck. Selessa pointed a finger at one of the machines and shouted an incantation, and the machine exploded, showering the area with bloody bits of its ordnance.

"Look out!" A shout came from near Selessa, and she felt a large amount of heavy metal suddenly slam into her body, she turned quickly to see one of the paladins shoving her out of the way as a large slab of marble toppled off a nearby tower, slamming into the street where she had been standing seconds ago. She felt something hard strike her head and a steady trickle of hot liquid run down her face. She blinked rapidly, thinking that her red hair was blurring her vision before she realized that it was her own blood that obscuring it. The paladin shouted something, a burst of light coming forth from his hand and eradicating a ghoul that was about to rush them before he crouched over Selessa. "Light protect us!" He cried out, a shimmering translucent wall of golden energy surrounding them. The last thing that Selessa saw before darkness consumed her was another pack of ghouls rushing at the shield, attempting to claw their way through the crackling energy.


	3. Chapter 3 The Destruction of the Sunwell

**Chapter 3: The Destruction of the Sunwell**

The world was a dark, blurry mess swimming about Selessa's head. She could make out a softly glowing fire a few feet away from her, but as she opened her eyes, little else made sense. She could see vaguely humanoid shapes moving about her. The elf's first reaction was to begin to gather herself up quickly and prepare to cast a spell, but the moment she moved, her head felt as though it split open.

"Take it easy, Lady Elf," she heard a soft voice near her, and felt a waterskin pressed into her hand, "here, drink..." Selessa grimaced, but chose to trust the voice and drank slowly, finally realizing just how parched she was. Without thought of the others who might be around her, or that this waterskin might be their only supply of liquid, she drank greedily, her senses slowly coming back to her. The stinging in her head was still almost too much to bear, but at least the humanoid shapes became much less void, though still a bit blurred. She could see that around her were three of the paladins who had been at Silvermoon, badly beaten and rather bloodied. There were deep gash marks in some of their armor, and the look on their faces was that of thoroughly defeated men. What Selessa noticed most of all, though, that despite their bedraggled appearance, there was one thing she could still see behind their eyes, even in the blurred darkness: hope. The paladin who had handed her the water rested a hand on her shoulder and muttered a soft prayer, resulting in a warm feeling spreading through Selessa's entire being.

"Where are we?" She murmured softly, not able to take in her surroundings particularly well. She thought she could make out strange, sickly looking mushrooms around her in the dim light, but that was certainly not a clue to her as to what her location was.

"The forests that border Quel'Thelas and Lordaeron," the paladin said grimly, "or, what's left of them... these mushrooms have been popping up wherever the land is plagued. We don't have any herbologists with us, or we might be able to figure out just what it is that draws them to such evil as this taint." There was a considerable amount of venom in his voice as he spoke of the corruption of the land.

"Were there... were there any other survivors?" Selessa inquired, sighing softly, knowing the answer would probably not please her.

"Prince Kael'thas and Commander Garithos managed to get a decent-sized portion of your force out of the city before it had fallen completely, though both of them were reluctant to admit defeat," the paladin sighed deeply, "there are a good number of refugees with them. My company and I were cut off from their groups as they retreated, so we ended up here." The paladin kicked at the dirt irritably.

Selessa nodded with a deep sigh, realizing that she was still very thirsty, however, she did not want to deprive these men of any more water, so she began to conjure a flask of water. She moved her hands in the normal gestures she went through, and saw a soft glow begin to emanate, but as it began to take shape, Selessa felt all her power leave her, and she felt exhausted, and far more thirsty than before. Concentrating harder again, she pulled upon the forces of the arcane, realizing, to her horror, that she felt little to nothing.

"Why can't I use my magic?" Selessa cried, waving her hands elaborately yet again, a grimace weighing heavily on her face as she thought she could almost taste the energies she sought to use, that they were tangible, but just out of reach somewhere.

"You were right," one of the paladins murmured, turning to the one that had been speaking to Selessa the entire time.

"In the battle, it become clear what Arthas's main goal was," he began with a concerned voice, "he was pressing his army hard towards the center of the city... and there, in the middle, waiting for him, was a traitor. An elf who had decided that the power promised to him by the blasted Lich King was worth sacrificing the future of his entire race. In a mad attempt to do the Light-knows-what... the traitor Prince destroyed the Sunwell."

Selessa's face turned pale and twisted in horror, her no-longer-glowing blue eyes wide, "The... Sunwell, gone?" She didn't have enough energy to realize that she had barely even formed a coherent sentence. All the pain suddenly left her body, filled with an increasing numbness so that soon she couldn't feel herself at all. She began to almost mechanically move her hands in an effort to conjure water, until finally, she produced a small flask of water, but even this act left her gasping. She swallowed the water in a single gulp, smiling a bit as she could taste the arcane energies that were used to create the drink swirling about down her throat. She looked back around to see that the paladins were staring at her in horror.

"This may be a trying time for you, Lady Elf," the lead paladin said, his voice soft again as though trying to reassure a frightened child, "but the source of your people's magic had been cut off... the things you once could do with the flick of a wrist and some magical components will be nigh impossible for you now. But, I assure you, the Light will be with you, to make you strong and aide you through these times."

Selessa glared at him. Her sister was dead, or worse, her people scattered, and their source of magic destroyed, and all he could do was talk of the cursed Light. Where was the Light these past few weeks, when all that was dear to so many was wiped out in one fel swoop. The arcane energies slowly began to leave Selessa again, leaving her feel completely hollow. She needed to find something... a potion of mana, a mana-based creature, anything, and drain it of its power. The only thought that filled her mind now was that she required more magic, no matter what the cost might be.


	4. Chapter 4 The Death of Immortals

**Chapter 4: The Death of Immortals**

The mage and her small party of paladins trudged onwards through the swath of destruction caused by the march of the Legion. Selessa had learned that the leader of the paladins was called Malach, a tall, well-built, darkly tanned man who commanded his men with soft words rather than barked orders. His subordinates were Tennin, a young man with dark hair and eyes who seemed rather wet behind the ears, his eyes wide in horror at all he took in. Malach had explained to Selessa that he was one of the most recent additions to the Knights, and that this was one of his first assignments. The second was Aneran, a somewhat older paladin with long graying hair who looked at Selessa with hard eyes, especially since her desperate display after learning of the destruction of the Sunwell. The mage had grown much more pale over the past couple of days of travel, the feeling of need gnawing at her innards like the hunger of one who hasn't eaten in a month. They were travelling through the remains of a small farming community, the burnt-out frames of what had once been homes surrounding them hauntingly. Parts of bodies that had been far too destroyed to be raised into undeath were strewn about with little care of dignity.

"This isn't right," Selessa said softly, bending over a completely ruined elven body, biting her lip, "these people never did anything to deserve this..."

"The Undead do not discriminate in their killing... the innocent are just as likely to die as the next," Malach grunted, "I saw children torn to pieces by the abominations before I had a chance to get to them, only to have their remains raised to fight for the Scourge, as they seem to be calling themselves now that the Traitor Prince has taken command."

Selessa took a deep breath, surveying the carnage, tears welling up in her eyes. These people had been immortal, they were destined to never grow old or sick, to live forever. It was their gift, that which had been graced upon them countless milennia ago. In the hundreds of years she had been alive, Selessa had seen much savagery that ended in the deaths of her kin, but nothing ever this horrific. Even the trolls and orcs, demon-driven as they had been, had never slain villages this savagely. Part of her felt quite odd for comparing one races' slaughtering of innocents to another's, but such was the extent of the destruction that stretched out before her as far as she could see.

"We need to press on," Aneran groaned, "we have wasted enough time as it is."

"Aneran!" Malach reprimanded softly, "have some respect, she has witnessed the wholesale slaughter of her people."

"This was brought on us because of arcane magic," Aneran returned harshly. Selessa could feel her face and the back of her neck burn. She wanted to turn on the man and lash out at him with a spell, but that desire just made the empty feeling in her body ache worse. She could feel magic nearby somewhere, but couldn't place it. Her eyes darted about searchingly as Aneran continued on, "the elves taught it to our forefathers, who deemed themselves worthy to continue the tradition far past its proper time. Mages are a proud bunch, sinners the lot of them."

"You will keep a civil tongue, Aneran," Malach said evenly, "this is not the time or place for such accusations." Selessa could hear the men arguing behind her, but it was drowned out by the increasingly rapid beating of her heart. She could feel arcane magic, her body was moving towards the power source before she even realized it. She heard the men cry out from behind her, but her body was lunging foward. The entire world was black to her, all she could see was a faint purple glow.

She reached out for it, and studied the glowing object for a fraction of a second before the arcane energy entered her body as a great force, as though she had sucked it in with a mighty breath. All at once she could feel the ecstacy of the energies pulsing through her veins. Her vision went from black to a brilliant violet, her extremities burning with pleasure as the feelings radiated from the core of her being. She was complete again, if only for a few fleeting moments. Selessa heard the men shouting again, but even that couldn't bring her out of her reverie. It wasn't until she felt a strong, gauntlet-clad hand seize her shoulder and draw her back that her vision came back to her, still blurred a bright violet from the rush of power. She saw Malach looking down at her, horror etched in his tired face. Aneran was sneering at her in disgust, and Tennin had his hand over his mouth, looking almost ill. Selessa slowly began to become aware of herself, and saw that in her hands was a gold pendant, a cracked, dimly glowing violet gem in the center. Beside her she saw the charred skeleton of an elf, its head laying against the shoulder, as the neck had snapped because of a sharp tug. Selessa soon realized in horror what she had done.

She scrambled to her feet, throwing the pendant down at the skeleton almost apologetically, backing up quickly until she felt her back hit the cold metal of Malach's armor.

"I-I... I didn't know what I was doing," she stammered, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She looked down at the gem again, seeing that there was still some small traces of magical energy in it. It took all of the mage's will not to leap back down and seize the pendant to draw out the last bit of power.

"Pathetic," Aneran hissed, walking away in disgust.

"What happened," Malach spoke with a tone that seemed concerned, although Selessa could hear some carefully contained disgust in his voice.

"I felt the magic.. I... I couldn't help myself, I lost control," she whimpered softly, suddenly realizing that her hands were throbbing in pain. She looked down at her slender hands to see that there were shards of the gem lodged in her fingers, blood slowly trickling down her arm. "I... I can't believe I did this... I..."

"I never realized that power could be a literal addiction," Malach said, his eyebrow twitching upward in a gesture of morbid fascination. He carefully removed the shards from Selessa's hand and softly said a prayer. Selessa once again felt the gentle warmth of the Light pulse through her being, watching as her wounds miraculously vanished. She shuddered, feeling unworthy of this blessing as she looked back down at the body of the elf before her.

"Malach," Aneran called, "a party approaches." Malach turned and stepped away, closely followed by Tennin. As soon as they walked away, Selessa bent down and grabbed the magic pendant that lay at her feet and stowed it in her bag. The damage was already done, she thought to herself, what harm would it be in finishing off the energies a little later? Anyhow, no one would ever have to know. She shivered, disgusted with herself as she looked at the skeleton again, but chose not to return the pendant. After all, she wasn't good to anyone without her magic... and that is what the pendant would give her. It was just the fix she might need later.


End file.
